My Books |
My BooksYou can read more about my books (including excerpts) by following the links below.
A House For Mr Misra‘Whatever came over me? Agreeing to move to the other side of the world was mad enough but to build a house slap bang against one of the widest, wildest oceans in the world?’ And so begins a journey of hope and anxiety as the author and her husband, the phlegmatic Mr M, set off from London to build their beachside home in Kerala. The obstacles are many and mostly unexpected, like neighbours waving cutlasses over the wall, venomous snakes and stubborn Union men at the gate, not to mention a large and complicated piece of legislation called the Coastal Regulation Zone. Obstacles, however, are meant to be overcome and so they are, with some quick thinking and a few helpful friends, an honest cop and an equally straight-talking scientist, and Excel sheets pulled up on demand to outwit corrupt builders. All of which make for a great story, filled with laughter and despair, and good-humoured yet sharp insights into the Malayali way of life.
A Love Story for my sister
1857: Eighteen-year-old Margaret Wheeler, daughter of General Wheeler, is kidnapped during the uprising. 1997: Eighteen-year-old Delhi-schoolgirl, Tara Fernandez, is kidnapped and murdered. Two crimes of passion separated by 140 years but bound by strange similarities. In 2013, Tara's little sister, Pia, a young aspiring novelist, is investigating the curious story of Margaret, one of the first known 'victims' of the Stockholm Syndrome. When Pia stumbles upon Margaret's private journal and letters, she finally begins to understand how it might have been possible for that woman to fall in love with her captor. But the more compelling question before Pia is whether her sister might have been similarly in love. Why else had she not returned home when she clearly had the chance? But, if she had been in love, why was she eventually killed? Moving gracefully between the gruelling summer of 1850s Kanpur and the leaden grey winter of modern-day Delhi, Jaishree Misra weaves an intriguing tale of danger and violence and the human capacity for hope.
Scandalous Secret
Glamour, money and admirers - the golden couple of Delhi, Neha and Sharat Chaturvedi, have it all. But they stand to lose everything when a dark secret from Neha's past materialises. Unknown to Sharat, naive eighteen year-old Neha had a child by her enigmatic tutor whilst at university at Oxford. She gave the baby up for adoption, vowing never to speak of her again. But her little girl - Sonya - is now fully grown and filled with a resolve to discover her birthmother. With Neha's poisonous secret quietly spreading, blackmail and scandal is on the cards. As Sonya arrives in Delhi to take her place in Neha's life, is Sonya all that she says she is, and will Sonya's arrival throw into jeopardy Neha and Sharat's perfect marriage ?
Read the first chapter online! Secrets And Sins
She gazed up at the cinema screen. He was larger than life, the close-up zooming in on his face causing his sleepy brown eyes to look directly into hers as he smiled into the camera. His hair was still black and shiny, exactly as she remembered it from back then. How many years ago was it? Every so often, she counted . . . ten . . . eleven . . . always surprised that the yearning hadn’t gone away . . .Something indefinable caught at her heart as she saw his face soften. She cast a look around at the rows of faces staring intently at the screen, all of them absorbed in the drama of the tender love scene unfolding before their eyes. He continued to be Bollywood’s most popular actor, equally loved in action as well as romantic roles – but undoubtedly it was his romantic persona that carried abiding appeal for his throngs of doting female fans. As he leant down to kiss the heroine on the nape of her neck, the same thought came to her as it always did when she watched one of his love scenes on screen. She sighed and sank down in her seat and wondered,with the same old feeling in the pit of her stomach, what all these hundreds of people watching the film would do if they knew . . . if they only knew that she, Riva Walia, was the very first girl to whom the iconic and adored Aman Khan had ever made love.
Read the first two chapters online! Secrets And LiesAnita, Zeba, Bubbles and Sam have a friendship that spans over 20 years, born out of their years at a private girls’ school in Delhi in the early Nineties. They were the top clique - until the arrival of a newcomer to the school - the beautiful, gifted 16-year-old Lily D'Souza, who ithreatens their superiority. Called back to India for a reunion by their beloved school principal, the women must now confront a secret that has haunted their adult lives. Lily's body was found on the night of their leaving party and, for twenty years, the open verdict has shielded the fact that they may have had a hand in her death. As they reunite in Delhi to find out the truth about what really happened that night, will their friendship stand the strain? Read the first two chapters online! RaniWhen thirteen-year-old Manikarnika leaves her father's court-in-exile to marry the king of Jhansi, little does she realize the burden of greatness awaiting her. As she grows from a headstrong and spirited girl into a young woman wise beyond her years, learning to put aside personal disappointments and desires to emerge as a capable queen beloved of her people, she watches the political landscape around her shift and change chillingly under the control of the powerful East India Company. Read the first two chapters online! AfterwardsThere is always, if not exactly a 'happily ever after', at least an 'afterwards' to every story When Rahul Tiwari arrives in Kerala for a short break from London, he has no premonition of a life-changing moment. But one glance over the fence at his lovely but reticent neighbour Maya is enough to launch him on a path of no return. He finds himself playing friend, partner, co-conspirator, and finally the entirely unexpected role of saviour as Maya, suffocating under the weight of a loveless marriage and a suspicious husband, turns to him for help. Ancient PromisesYoung and vulnerable, Janu gave up Arjun, her first love, to enter into an arranged marriage. Years later, she is miserable, having been gradually shut out by the coldness of her husband's family and his indifference to her and her daughter's needs. Finally she flees to England to escape the loveless union - but at what price to herself and those she loves? The moving story of one woman's painful journey of self-discovery, Ancient Promises is about a marriage, a divorce, and motherhood. It is about why we love and lose, sometimes seeming to have little control over our destinies. Accidents Like Love and MarriageAccidents like Love and Marriage is an unexpected romp through the universal dilemmas of love and marriage. It is a compelling tale of incompatible relationships and their astonishing success rates. The Sachdevs, Menons and Singhs are urban Indians, normal folk with everyday concerns, instantly recognizable, in fact, just a little bit like youji and me. But when a foppish Delhiwalla falls for a lovely, smart Keralite and his brother finds romance abroad, passion and comedy take control of their destinies. |